All posts tagged colour choices

It’s time to take a short break from blanketeering. My mother’s day blanket is a work in progress, but coming along nicely (to be saved for another post). But I confess, I am getting a bit tired of all the endless blues and creams. Which is why my latest ‘short project’ is an altogether brighter affair.

Happy Colours!

This yarn is Rico cotton dk, and it comes in really juicy, happy colours. Over Christmas I discovered the fantastic Attic24, whose blog has seduced me into choosing brighter colours, and into believing that truly beautiful things can be made through crochet, as well as knitting. I’ve never attempted crochet before, but with the help of YouTube, I was managing to turn out rather scruffy looking granny squares in an afternoon or so. In particular, videos from AussieCrochetChick were helpful.

And here they are, my rainbow squares:

My first crochet.

I can’t claim to be an expert, but I’m surprised at how quickly it is to knock out a couple of granny squares in front of the TV. What’s more, I have a feeling that they won’t turn into a blanket! I do have an idea in mind for these little suckers, but I’ll keep it to myself for now.

Granny Squares – definitely not just for grannies.

They may not be perfect – but I think they look so cute and colourful. The perfect antidote to all the snow and slush that’s blanketing our isolated village right now. The only accompaniments I need are a log-burner and a cup of tea. DVD box set optional…

I am a bit of a gardening whore. That is, I find it hard to resist temptation and buy plants without thinking about where they will go in my garden, and whether they will ‘fit’. Which means that when it comes to colour schemes, my garden is a little bit ‘eccentric’.

A good example is this red rose next to this pinky-lilac poppy – especially clash-ful against the pale yellow walls of our house. I don’t think I’d win any Chelsea medals for this combo!

Pink, red and yellow. I’m not sure it works, either..

The pink-red-yellow-athon continues in this bed with pink sweet williams and orangey-red poppies, alongside purple monkshood.

Mmm, ‘blended colours’. Maybe not..

When it comes to outdoor colour choices, I have a rather chequered history. When we moved in 2 years ago our lovely Devon house was painted white. There are a lot of other white thatched cottages in our village, and we decided we would like something a little sunnier. So we chose a gorgeous pale yell0w and were rather shocked when it seemed rather more, erm ‘luminous’ than the powdery lemon we had envisaged. Eek. We toned it down with this grey on the woodwork, which we were really pleased with.

Luckily, the house has mellowed over time and the creamy yellow now looks gorgeous in the sunshine, and has met with the approval of other villagers (if you live in a village, you will know exactly how important this is). Even more importantly, it always looks like a happy house, even in the rain – and we have had rather a lot of rain recently!

So the colour choices are not always intended – but I’m fine with that. After all, the colours in wildflower meadows aren’t exactly planned by anyone. What matters most, I think, is that the plants are happy growing in the place they’re in. That and the rigorous removal of slugs.

These beds contain the full spectrum of reds and pinks. What brings it all together, I think, is the inclusion of purple in the foxgloves and allium christophii. More about purple flowers in an upcoming post.

Foxgloves, roses, clematis and allium – just don’t wear them all at once.

To me, cottage gardens are about masses of native species. I love coming home after work, getting out of my car, and seeing it bloom all around me. I don’t care if it matches! The colour doesn’t matter. It’s the pleasure of growing that counts.